Seattle business leaders weigh in on reports of crime on the rise

From vandalism to theft, store owners across the city of Seattle say they are worried about a rise in crime. And the reasons for the rise, much like the experiences, vary.

The Seattle Police Department reports that crime has continued to increase over the past year — compared to 2020 — marking an overall 14 year high. This includes assault, motor vehicle theft, and robbery — all higher than they’ve ever been in the past five years. Shootings and shots fired were up 40% over the previous year, to the highest level they've been in 10 years.

Those numbers from the SPD have not been verified by an outside source, but even so, they’ve gotten attention from the city.

When asked, Seattle residents, businesses and politicians give mixed responses on why they fear a perceived rise in crime. Some say it's a lack of policing. For others, it's the growth in online marketplaces on Facebook or Amazon, leaving downtown retail areas feeling emptier. Another contributing factor, less foot traffic because of shutdowns and social distancing over the past two years.

KUOW's Soundside heard from a handful of business owners and business association leaders, here's what they said:

Tanya Woo, owner of the Louisa Hotel in Chinatown-International District says she wants to see more resources like social workers in the area.

Woo is a business owner in the neighborhood she grew up in. She is also part of the community watch group made up of volunteers who patrol the neighborhood, offering help to those who need it.

“I love this community, and I love the people. And it just hurts so much to see how disruptive this 12th and Jackson hotspot is,” she says.

RELATED: Officials say they're fighting crime in this district. Seattle's Little Saigon is fighting for its 'legacy'

When she and fellow volunteers patrol “hotspots” they come across really troubling scenes in need of lots of resources that tackle underlying issues. She says this involves a multi-agency approach. Without them, Woo says she thinks that people will just move somewhere else.

“If you drive by, you can see that you know they're doing drugs but they're also in a lot of pain and and who are not in the best situations of their lives and just getting them the help that they need, I think will really help.”

"People are buying drugs at 12th and Jackson and coming to Chinatown and Little Saigon and Little Japantown to die," Woo said. "People are breaking into the stores and the businesses in this area as well. If you walk around Chinatown you will see that people leave their cash registers out in front of the their doorways at night to show that they have no cash."

Woo believes the city needs more social workers to tackle the issue. She has seen police officers posted at 12th and Jackson, but says people will simply walk around the block and continue their transactions there.

"I think this will require a multiagency approach," she said, which should include shelter space.

The Chinatown-International District and Little Saigon aren’t the only neighborhoods in the city wondering about safety. In downtown Seattle and Pioneer Square, some neighbors and business owners are thinking about their futures in their neighborhoods.

Olga Sagan, owns Piroshky Piroshky in Pike Place Market. And she’s made a decision about her future. On Sunday she announced she would be closing her business downtown.

“I think it was a long time coming,” Sagan said.

"I am done fighting this," she said. "I already feel like an insane person, trying to do the same thing and expect different results, and it's just not happening."

Sagan says she’s closing her business following a shooting that happened Sunday afternoon. She says incidents like this have become routine with little coverage. There’s been a surge in violence and few people pay attention, she said.

Following the shooting on Sunday afternoon, Sagan says she and employees received plenty of media attention and a robust police presence. But nothing that guaranteed consistent safety.

“You would see people cleaning the street, you would see, you know, some sign of normalcy,” she said. “But I have seen this before; it lasts about a day. And once the 24 hour news cycle is over, and media is no longer paying attention to this. It goes right back to normal.”

After Sagan announced that she planned to close her downtown business, she says critics told her that all businesses suffered because of economic impact of Covid-19 and that this was no different. She says the "normal" she experiences has nothing to do with Covid-19 and that her other Piroshky Piroshky location at Pike Place Market has rebounded to pre-pandemic numbers.

Jon Scholes, the president & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, says there’s plenty that still can be done.

"These are not normal or acceptable conditions,” he said. "We shouldn't normalize chronic homelessness in our downtown and accept it as a condition that is going to be with us forever.”

Scholes points out that he sees hundreds living in tents and encampments. He says it has been an issue for decades, but the pandemic made things worse.

He says the biggest threat to renewal and recovery of downtown areas stem from chronic homelessness, substance use, and overall safety and security around city streets.

Scholes hopes the city approaches this with similar tenacity he saw politicians and businesses take when faced with the pandemic.

“We've made a big bet on a healthy thriving downtown,” he said. "And so we need to be focused on urgently addressing these issues and not normalizing them not accepting that they're going to be with us forever.”

Lisa Dixon Howard is the Executive Director for the Alliance for Pioneer Square. She says that she’s heard a mix of experiences from business owners in the neighborhood. But overall, she hears a lot of hope as workers return to offices.

“The amount of resilience that our businesses have demonstrated over the last few years, nothing short of astounding,” Dixon Howard says.

“Not anyone is just going to come down to an empty space in Pioneer Square, and be fully successful. But if you can make it work, it's amazing.”

Dixon Howard says that burglary and theft are real issues facing the city across neighborhoods, but those problems are part of a larger systems issue of aiding people struggling drug addiction and homelessness.

“Our systems have had increasing pressure over the last two years,” she said. “There’s just going to be more opportunity to build those better systems over time. Because there’s an intent to make sure our systems serve people as individuals and the community as a whole.”

Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis represents District 7 – Pioneer Square to Magnolia.

Lewis is also the vice chair of the Council's Public Safety & Human Services committee. Lewis says City Hall is definitely aware that there are concerns about crime and public safety in downtown, Pioneer Square, and the International District.

Councilmember Lewis alongside Councilmember Lisa Herbold, the president of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, are proposing a way for the city to figure out what they're doing well and what they need to do better. The proposal: an audit of the city’s experience of organized retail theft. The audit will include talking with store owners about their own experiences with theft. It will be used to determine how best to enhance the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) Retail Theft Program.

“The audit is not an exercise in trying to determine whether there is a problem or to collect data from retailers,” Lewis said. “This audit is a response because we know there is a problem. We know that organized retail theft is a big challenge that we're facing in Seattle, and that jurisdictions around the country are facing.”

Lewis says part of the purpose of the audit is to try to change the system from the top. He says currently, there are no effective institutions to tackle the issue of organized crime.

The council member says he is sensitive to critics who say that programs like SPD’s Retail Theft program further criminalize poverty and visible homelessness without actually solving any of the underlying issues.

“We want to make sure that the people who are making a living off of this practice of organized retail theft, instead of the people who are in the throes of a cycle of addiction and everything else can stop exploiting people's public health problems as part of their criminal enterprise.”